Farewell Manila Bay - Castor Avenue - Philadelphia, PA

It's with a very heavy heart that I say that today we visited our favorite Filipino restaurant for the very last time. After 15 years of faithful service to the neighborhood, Manila Bay is closing its doors due to this tough economy!

I first heard of Manila Bay when I was serving on the Asian Pacific American Heritage organization on McGuire Air Force Base back in 2003. At the time, I was organizing an outing for our group, comprised of different Asians, and I thought it would be fun to try to find a Filipino restaurant. That said, I hopped on Google, and found Manila Bay.

Once I found their website, I saw the pictures, and knew that this was someplace that I had to visit. The restaurant had much of the same Filipino décor that I grew up with in our house as a kid. In seeing the pictures of the staff, you could tell there was a lot of Filipino family that worked here, hung out here, and ate here. I e-mailed them to see if we could get a reservation, and I received an e-mail back from Bob, the owner, along with his wife Cherrie, and we made our first trip with a group of 12.

In arriving at Manila Bay for the first time back in 2003, the first thing I noticed was the shadow box of a retired USAF Senior Master Sergeant, and upon a closer look, I saw that Bob was retired from the United States Air Force. Talk about a small world! Unfortunately, Bob was not in tonight, but we did meet his wife Cherrie, who was Filipino, and she was great. It turned out that Bob is actually Korean/Irish, but as we've said for years, Bob is more Filipino than all of us combined! ;-)

In the years to follow, we kept in touch with Cherrie and Bob, and they truly became family to us. For me, this was the closest thing to Filipino family I had on the East Coast, and every time we'd visit, they treated us just like family! In total, we probably visited "The Bay" a few dozen times through the years, and it is somewhere that we are really going to miss.

For me, the food was just like it was when I was a kid! Cherrie has the exact same cooking techniques as my Mom does, and her staples are just like Mom's. From the lumpia, to the fried tilapia, to the adobo, to the pork inihaw, they are all just like mom used to make. Even the Filipino fried rice as I like to call it, they all reminded me of sitting at the table as a kid, with the exact same flavors.

When we heard last week that Sunday would be the last day Manila Bay would be open, we knew that we had to stop in sometime over the weekend. Sunday turned out to be the best day, so we figured we'd run some errands, then head to "The Bay" to catch the Bears -vs- Packers playoff game. Unfortunately, it didn't work out so well for my Bears, but congratulations to the Packer's on making it to the Super Bowl. Congrats also to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We arrived at the restaurant and a lot of the family was there. It was great to see some familiar faces, as well as some new faces. Meanwhile, the restaurant was doing a ton of carryout business, and people surely got word that this was the final hoorah for Manila Bay. This is actually really sad! Where has all this business been for the last year! There were also all kinds of old friends of Manila Bay coming in, and it was really nice to see everyone send Bob and Cherrie off in style!

We snagged a table in front of the TV for the game, and sat right next to the family. It was nice chatting with them all, and again, sad that this is the last time we will see them all here. But like anything, all good things have to come to an end.

Caroline came over to see what she could get for us, and pretty much figured out what we were going to eat on her own. LOL! How do you not love that. I started off with some fresh rolled lumpia, and as always they were stellar. So much better than the ones that I make, and you have got to love them. They business they have done the last few days was so tremendous that they actually had to roll lumpia, and they were making them throughout the day. That is awesome, and I am so glad that I got my lumpia fix!

For entrees, Zelda went with the vegetable pancit, and I went with pork inihaw, a Filipino staple. Both of course were delicious! It was actually funny that Cherrie had to send her daughter in law to the Asian market to get some more pork just to ensure they had enough to get through the end of the day. Needless to say, the pork inihaw was coming out of the kitchen like wild fire, and it was delicious. We also got a side of Filipino fried rice, or as they like to call it, garlic fried rice. Mom used to make this all the time, and this tasted just like Mom's. Between this and the pork inihaw, I have plenty leftover for lunch tomorrow!

Dessert also came out, which is always some sort of gelatin based salad, with a nice creamy texture to it. I can never remember what this is called, but it is always good. It came out in a massive portion, filling a big margarita styled glass, and it was again delicious.

A little while later, a band came in and started setting up. This was a Filipino band that used to play here over the years called PA+DE in Full. You can check them out on MySpace at: www.myspace.com/padeinfull They were a lot of fun, and played some current hits, as well as some Tagalog songs. What a great way to send Manila Bay on their way!

So all of that said, we hung out for the afternoon, and I dreaded having to say good bye to Bob and Cherrie, as well as Caroline. Thankfully, I know that we will see them again, but it is unfortunate that we won't see them here at Manila Bay again.

In short, thanks to Bob, Cherrie, and Manila Bay for 15 years of faithful service to the community! I am so thankful that I had the chance to meet you guys, and be part of the Manila Bay family. The food at Manila Bay more than satisfied my cravings for Mom's cooking, and for that, we're forever grateful! You guys are a class act, and we are truly going to miss your fine establishment! Thanks so much for the memories, and we look forward to seeing you at our "Filipino Luau" over the summer! Cheers and Love! -F. Scott and Zelda

Manila Bay - Philadelphia, PA

When Zelda mentioned today that she had a craving for Manila Bay today, I can’t even tell you how excited I got!  You don't have to tell me twice to go to "The Bay!"  For me, going to Manila Bay is the next best thing to going to my Mom’s house in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, and having an awesome Filipino inspired meal!  Well, being 850 miles from Mom’s, Manila Bay fills the void, and is just a bit over a ½ hour drive!

Manila Bay is located on Castor Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.  For us, it is actually very easy to get to, as we just take the 295 to Route 73, then take the Tacony Bridge across the Delaware, and then hang a left onto Route 1.  In all actuality, we could take Route 1 all the way up, but that takes a bit longer in my opinion because of all of the stoplights.

So when Zelda mentioned Manila Bay, I Blackberry Messaged our friend and owner Bob Coll, to let him know we’d be coming in tonight.  He let Cherrie, his wife know, and she reserved a table for us at 8PM with a good view of the big screen to watch the Phillies play the San Francisco Giants tonight in the National League playoffs.

We ended up getting to Manila Bay about 25 minutes early, and our table was all ready for us.  We were greeted with hugs and kisses from Cherrie, as well as Caroline who was our server this evening.  It really is amazing how family oriented they are here, and Cherrie and Bob really do make you feel like family in their restaurant.  Unfortunately, Bob was serving the city of Philadelphia tonight where he is a paramedic, so we didn’t have the chance to see him.  But thanks Bob for all that you do for the city!

So we sat and ordered a few drinks.  Zelda went for her standard Tanqueray and Tonic,  and I went the Filipino route and ordered a San Miguel, which is a Filipino beer (http://www.sanmiguel.com.ph/).  In the meantime, Caroline had put in an order for us for some appetizers.  Zelda went for the Manila Spring Rolls, while I went for the Lumpia Shanghai, which absolutely cannot be missed!  These came out a few minutes later, and were steaming hot, fresh from the fryer!  Both were magnificent, and I was in absolute lumpia heaven!  These are every bit as good as my mom's, and definitely better than the lumpia that I make at home!  WOW these are delicious!

In the meantime, we chatted with Cherrie, and she introduced us to many of their friends who were at the restaurant.  Sitting at a table in front of us were two of her friends, and at the bar was her brother and sister in law.  She just makes everyone feel at home, and it is just a cozy place to visit, with the Filipino décor all around the restaurant.  One piece of décor however that is not Filipino inspired, is a massive Phillies flag hanging on the left wall opposite the bar.  This is actually a flag that was flying over Veteran's Stadium way back when, that was taken down, signed by all the players, then sent to Bob when he was in Iraq, serving in the United States Air Force before he retired.  How awesome is that?

For dinner tonight, Zelda opted for the BBQ salmon, served with a black bean sauce, with steamed veggies and rice.  This was a gorgeous dish, and a massive helping that Zelda was definitely not going to finish.  The flavors from the grill on the salmon were absolutely amazing, and it goes to show how good a seasoned grill can make food taste!

As usual, I ordered the chicken adobo tonight, as it is one of my favorites.  Moments later, Cherrie came over and asked while I always order the adobo, so I gave her my honest answer:  "I order it because it's like sitting in my mom's kitchen and eating hers."  Nothing wrong with that at all, but she ended up talking me out of it, and I changed my order to the Pork Inihaw.  All I can say to this is WOW!  This is very thinly sliced, pork that is marinated in garlic and a bunch of different spices.  I have no idea how long this is marinated for, but the flavors here are absolutely incredible!  Again, the flavors from the gill here are what really makes this dish so good.  I have no idea how old their grill is, but Cherrie mentioned that it was old.  In my opinion, this is what gives this dish so much character.  The taste on the char is something that takes time, and the time only comes from a seasoned grill.  So Cherrie, if you are reading, do not ever get rid of this grill!  It is so good!

At this point we were stuffed, and hung out to finish our drinks, and just to talk with Cherrie and their friends.  I couldn't eat another bite, but Cherrie made it a point to bring us out a dessert.  For the life of me, I can't remember what it was, but it had a gorgeous green gelatin like product in it, with a nice creamy sauce, and it was delicious.  We split it between the two of us, and at that point, Cherrie wanted to bring out another dessert.  If only we had room, but we'll be back soon to try it, amongst other things on the menu.

One of the best things about Manila Bay is their pricing, and if this were my restaurant, the prices would be a lot higher!  Well, maybe not a lot higher, but perhaps a little higher!  The lumpia at $4 could be the bargain of the century!  The spring rolls are just $3, and my pork inihaw was just $9.  The salmon was by far the most expensive entrée at $16, but given the size of the fish, this too was a steal.  We've paid anywhere from $20-$30 for salmon dishes that didn't have 1/2 as much fish as this did.  Again, at these prices, it is such a no brainer to eat here.  You can't eat this good anywhere else for the pricing, and on average, I would guess that most of these entrees would be at least $5 more, and the appetizers $3-$4 more!  Great quality at great prices!

All in all, what a great night, with people that might as well be family, eating Filipino cuisine that is every bit as good as Mom's.  Sorry Mom, but it's true!  When Mom comes to visit, we'll be bringing her to Manila Bay so she can see for herself!  That said, if you are ever in this area, check it out for yourself, as I know you won't be disappointed!  Be sure to tell them that we sent you!  Cheers!

Manila Bay
6724 Castor Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19149
Phone:  (215)722-7877
http://www.manila-bay.com/

Tuesday to Thursday - 5PM to 10PM
Friday to Saturday - Noon to 2AM
Sunday - Noon to 9PM
Monday - Closed